STATIC STRETCHING DOES NOT AFFECT MEASURES OF POWER AND FATIGUE DURING VIGOROUS CYCLING AMONG WOMEN

Abstract

Static stretching has been linked to lesser performance in many sport activities. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of static stretching upon power and fatigue performance measures during vigorous cycling. In this study, vigorous cycling was assessed using the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT). Using a counterbalanced design, twenty nine female participants completed standardized static stretching and nonstretching protocols prior to completing the WAnT. No statistically-significant differences (p = 0.05) were found between conditions for measures of peak power (PP), low power (LP) or fatigue index (FI). These findings suggest that static stretching had no statistically-significant effect on these performance measures commonly assessed during the WAnT.